Loose Women favourite Carol McGiffin has made a heartbreaking confession about her long-term battle to feel healthy again, more than a decade after she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.
The TV star received the devastating news in 2014 after discovering a lump while she was on holiday. She chose not to tell her partner immediately, waiting until she could return home and see her GP.
Carol later recalled:
“I knew from the moment I saw the doctor it was cancer. It was a bit like, ‘Oh right then, I know what this is about.’”
A Year Of Brutal Treatment
Carol then endured a gruelling year of treatment, including a mastectomy, six rounds of chemotherapy and 15 rounds of radiotherapy. While doctors successfully banished the disease, the effects of that brutal regime have followed her ever since.
Speaking to Best magazine, the Loose Women legend admitted:
“I haven’t felt ‘well’ for over 10 years since I had breast cancer. But it wasn’t the cancer that made me feel ill — it was the chemotherapy.”
“Wellness Is Just Clever Marketing”
In a desperate bid to regain her old self, Carol says she tried everything from massages and yoga to spas and meditation — only to conclude it was all a waste of time.
“In an effort to improve how I feel, I’ve fallen for loads of wellness stuff,” she said.
“But if I’m honest, it was all a big waste of time and money.”
Now deeply sceptical of the booming wellness industry — estimated to be worth over £170 billion in the UK — Carol believes it is nothing more than clever marketing built on placebo effects.
Her Own Formula For Survival
Instead, Carol insists the secret to life is far simpler: sunshine, a Mediterranean diet, and refusing to deprive herself of the things she loves.
Her happiness formula?
Living in a sunny climate, eating well, avoiding stress — which she calls “the biggest killer of all” — and enjoying life without guilt.
Facing Cancer Head-On
When she was first diagnosed, Carol only told a small circle of people, adopting the tough attitude she learned from her mother, who had also battled cancer.
“So what if I’ve got breast cancer?” she thought at the time.
“Thousands of women get it every year. I’ll get through this.”
She even told partner Mark Cassidy not to accompany her for an early scan. When he turned up anyway and she received confirmation, the couple went straight to the pub to drink the shock away.
Life After Trauma
Carol admits she doesn’t know what caused her cancer, which is why she hasn’t made drastic lifestyle changes.
“People say it could be alcohol, but it could be anything. I could give up drinking tomorrow and still get it — and I’d be miserable. So what would be the point?”
Today, she believes the greatest medicine isn’t found in wellness fads — but in simply enjoying life.
